Birds Of A Feather
by ActualStardustKid
Summary: When the Kratt brothers and the gang encounter persistent poachers Cecilia and Trenton Coreloc (OCs), they'll have to do everything in their power to protect the family of golden eagles at risk. But the Corelocs and their dangerous client could prove to be even more dangerous to those that stand in their way. (Rated T for eventual violence and such.)
1. Chapter 1

**Heh, sorry for the corny title~**

Martin looked up at the sound of his brother's excited laughter, squinting in the sunlight that was filtering through the trees that grew along the edge of the cliff. "They're all still here, Martin!" Chris announced as he peered into the large nest, counting four eggs in total.

Sighing in relief, Martin clambered further up the cliff face to share the view with his younger brother. "Aw, thank goodness. That was a terrible storm last night- I was afraid one of the little guys would take a tumble."

Chris nodded knowingly, reaching out to gingerly pat an egg. "Luckily golden eagles' nests are built so sturdy, and the cliff may have actually made a nice wind buffer." He observed.

"Plus the eggs themselves are pretty heavy," Martin considered.

"Golden Eagles are the largest raptors in North America." The younger Kratt announced knowingly by way of agreement.

"Yeah, speaking of large raptors... We may want to get out of here before mom and dad get impatient." Martin chuckled uneasily as his eyes followed the male golden eagle, swooping above the nest.

"Good call," Chris nodded with a sideways grin to his brother before expertly picking his way up the cliff to the top. Martin scrambled after, slightly struggling to keep up with the more experienced climber.

Having reached the top, the Kratts began picking their way back through the forest to find the Tortuga. "I can't wait for those eggs to hatch," Martin began chattering excitedly. "Then we can name them! Ooh, I can't wait!" Chris chuckled, bemused by his brother's eagerness.

As the Kratts got farther and farther from the nesting site, a stocky man in black turned to his camouflage-clad hunting partner. "What do you think, Cecilia?" He asked her in a low voice. With elegant flair, the woman gestured in the direction of the brothers.

"I think they'll be easy enough to work around, Trent. Our client requested a golden eagle, and we haven't disappointed a customer yet." She lowered her gaze. "If they prove to be a threat to our task, it should be simple enough to dispose of them." Trenton gave a cold, short laugh in response as he cocked the gun in his hands.

The pair rose to their feet and moved towards the nest...


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took me so long to upload this next chapter. I was waiting on my new laptop to get here. Anyway, enjoy~ :)**

"Jimmy Z, is that -" Martin paused to sniff the air excitedly as he boarded the Tortuga alongside Chris.

"Pepperoni!" Both the Kratt brothers and Jimmy chorused in unison, causing Aviva to giggle and Koki to look up from her computer long enough to give them a bemused expression.

"Hot, right out of the oven." Jimmy grinned pulling at a slice and then giving a small yelp as he dropped it. "Emphasis on hot." he added.

Koki shook her head and then looked up to address the brothers. "So how're Tailspin and Swoop?" she queried, referring to the Golden Eagle pair.

"And the eggs!?" Aviva quickly added.

"Looks like they're all doing fine." Chris grinned. "Nature has equipped them with all sorts of abilities to stay safe in varying kinds of weather."

"Buuut, we would like to stick around for a couple days more, just to make sure everything keeps going so swell." Martin began before quickly adding "If you guys are all okay with that."

"Of course!" Aviva clapped her hands together excitedly, picking up a few technological odds and ends and transferring them to another desk. "I've been doing a study of raptors, trying to see if there's any extra powers we could add to the suits - or to perfect them. And there's plenty of great examples around here." Aviva was positively beaming as she began rustling through her things.

"Woohoo!" Chris grinned before making his way over to Jimmy and the pizza. He carefully removed a now cooled slice and bit into it with a thoughtful expression. "Y'know Martin," he began once having swallowed. "There's another creature around here that we've been wanting to get a good look at."

Martin lowered the piece of pizza he'd been about to devour in order to mirror the grin Chris was giving him.

"El lobo - the Mexican Wolf!" they said in hearty unison. Jimmy cocked his head.

"Are they anything like the Gray Wolf?" he asked, considering the adventures previously had involving wolves.

"Well we're going to find out." Chris laughed. He high-fived Martin and the brothers turned to prepare to leave.

"Hold it! Not without your creature power suits, you don't." Aviva gave the two an admonishing grin.

"Oh- of course!" Chuckled Chris, slipping on the torso portion of the suit.

"And don't forget your creature pods." Koki put in, handing one to each brother. "They should be fully charged by now."

"Thanks, guys!" Smiled Martin.

"We'll check in soon!" Chris put in.

And with that, the two Kratts ran off into the coming dusk, intent on tracking down the wolves they wanted to observe. Several miles away, however, two figures were tracking animals as well - but with far less innocent intent.

"Come on, Cecilia. We'll need to find the other one before its mate wakes up." Trenton turned a sour frown to the crate he was toting.

"It's a heavy tranquilizer. Should be fine until we reach the plane. Please, Trenton, quit complaining."

With an exasperated eyeroll, Trenton Coreloc heaved a sigh and continued following his wife through the scrubby underbrush. They were in search of the male Golden Eagle, and according to their research, should be out hunting for his mate. The problem now was figuring out exactly where it was hunting at.

"Martin just look at these little guys!" Chris was bent, hands on his knees as he laughed at the playful pups romping around in front of him.

"Aw, they're so cute - we gotta think of some names for them!" Sitting next to the mother of the pups, Martin reached out to scratch behind the ear of a particularly feisty member of the litter.

"Looks like the pack's getting ready to hunt." Observed Martin, watching as the pack's leader gave a few short barks to some packmates.

"And a few wolves stay here to watch the pups - just like their Gray Wolf cousins!" pointed out Chris.

"Okay, Chris I've got an idea. What if you stay here with the puppies and I'll follow the pack on their hunt. And then tomorrow - we can switch!" The older Kratt sounded excited about his idea, figuring this way they'd both get a taste of the different sides of the pack's life.

"Hm, alright. But if I'm staying here, I get to name at least one of the pups. Deal?" Asked Chris with a chuckle.

"Deal!" Agreed Martin, before turning to see that the pack was about to leave. "Oh-! Better keep up!" Turning, Martin bounded away after the small hunting party.

Chris looked down with a smile at the young wolf that had been bouncing back and forth over his legs for the past several minutes. "Looks like it's just you and me for awhile, um," Chris paused for a moment watching the wolf pounce around. "Pogo." he finally landed on a name and smiled at the accomplishment.

Not sure how much time had passed, Chris awoke from his dozing with a start. He rubbed his eyes, blinking. Something had woken him, but he couldn't remember what... Glancing around, her noticed a few of the wolves with their ears perked. One's fur was begin to stand on end in a defensive manner. "What's goin' on gu-" But before Chris could finish his question, he found the answer to what had woken him. A gunshot sounded loudly, causing the younger Kratt to jump. He was on his feet in seconds.

"Martin?!"


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is chaos ahahaha Enjoy~**

 _Martin's POV_

Winded, Martin rolled into the bushes. His eyes were wide and his heart pumping wildly. She'd actually _shot_ at him!

It was only a few moments before when the older Kratt had been happily keeping pace with the pack. He'd checked in with Aviva (who told him the crew would soon be seeking some sleep) and all seemed to be going well. The wolves were beginning to encircle a lone mule deer when the golden eagle, Tailspin, had dove down towards the same prey.

Naturally, Martin had been overjoyed, seeing as this kind of eagle hunting tactic was rare and exciting. But as he'd wandered over to get a closer look at the action, he heard the resounding _pow_ of a gun. Scrambling backward Martin had watched with a mounting feeling of horror as Tailspin fell to the earth.

"T-tailspin! Oh my gosh," Martin had barely gotten the words out as he edged towards the eagle when a woman appeared from the underbrush. She cocked her gun and fired once more, just as Martin dove out of the way.

Now he crawled rapidly toward the cover of a tree. "What are you doing?!" Was all he could manage, exasperated but wary of leaning out from behind his cover.

"Our job." A second, deeper voice barked the reply. Hearing footsteps, Martin quickly surveyed his surroundings. At the gunshots, the pack had scattered into the trees and now he was trying to locate the source of the sound. Edging backwards, Martin chanced a look around the side of the tree.

The woman was bent over, preparing a cage and then plucking something from amidst the still pile of feathers that was Tailspin. It looked like a dart - Martin felt himself sigh in relief as he realized it was a tranquilizer gun. But his moment of calm lasted mere seconds as he saw a man nearing him, crashing through the forest growth that surrounded the clearing.

Doing his best to stealthily pick his way around the edge, Martin blinked in shock as a second cage came into view. "Swoop," he murmured, prickling with worry. Thinking fast, Martin used his creature pod to contact Chris and alert him of his location. He had to keep these two here, he couldn't let them get away with Swoop and Tailspin! Golden eagles were endangered and what was worse - the eggs would die! Taking a breath, Martin popped up from behind a tree.

"Hey!" The man spun around, raising his gun, but the woman raised her hand, forestalling him as she turned annoyed eyes on the Kratt that had just appeared.

"Listen," Martin began, trying his best to keep his voice level. "You can't hunt endangered species like this - they're important to this ecosystem and they're important in making sure the species survives." In Martin's opinion, trying to talk to people and educating them was an important first step.

Giving a short, cold laugh the woman surprised Martin. "You think we don't know that? We're in the business of making money - not preserving wildlife." She rolled her eyes.

"And we're not too fond of those people that try to stand in our way," Her hunting partner challenged, taking a step closer to the older Kratt. Martin swallowed, giving a small frown. Moments ago he'd heard Chris quietly calling to him via the creature pod, but now there was silence. He only hoped his younger brother was on his way here.

 _Chris's POV_

As he moved toward the sound of the gunshots, Chris had contacted the Tortuga. Koki reported that Martin had called in not too long ago, but they hadn't heard anything since. She was obviously a bit suspicious, but Chris didn't give too much away for fear of worrying them when nothing was actually wrong.

It wasn't too long after he had ended that call that he started receiving a message from Martin. A pinprick of light on the tiny map displayed showed Chris that his brother wasn't too far off. As the pod began processing video, Chris frowned.

"Martin? Martin are you there?" His brows furrowed as he heard his brother's voice, but not addressing him. Another voice was heard, and as Martin moved, Chris got a clear shot of the people his older brother was speaking to. They were both holding guns and he could make out a cage at their feet.

Grimacing, Chris captured the image, sending the screenshot to the tortuga asking them to identify the pair and to be on standby. It wasn't long before an intercepting call came through on Chris's creature pod.

Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy all were looking at the screen with mixtures of concern and confusion. Koki was reading off a screen;

"Cecilia and Trenton Coreloc - Looks like they're 'professional poachers' - they hunt for rich clients, for various reasons. They're kind of low profile but wanted nonetheless." She fixed him with a hard stare. "Chris, what is going on?"

The younger Kratt's worry was obvious on his face, but he shook his head a look of determination setting itself in place. "Listen, I think Martin may be in trouble, I need to get in close - I'll keep my speaker on but I'm going to mute your end for now." With the press of a button, Chris was following the blinking dot that was Martin once more.

It wasn't too long before he neared the clearing where Martin was at. He could hear voices, barely making out what they were saying. Chris edged closer, feeling tension building the nearer he got.

"And we're not too fond of those people that try to stand in our way." Chris chose that moment to barrel into the clearing, tackling Trenton. Chris grappled with him, trying to wrest away the man's gun. Both rolled to the ground, the weapon caught in between their struggle.

As he had tumbled into the open space, Chris had heard Martin give a gasp of surprise. Now he heard crashing and craned his head momentarily to see his older brother taking Cecilia by surprise by knocking away her gun. Squinting, Chris realized the weapon was not filled with bullets, but tranquilizing darts. The young man's moment of distraction, though short, had been long enough for Trenton to grasp the center of the gun. He yanked the gun - and Chris - forward, pulling the younger Kratt in range of his fist.

Chris's grip loosened and he stumbled back a pace, taken by surprise by the dizzying blow. "Chris!" He heard his brother's anguished yelp.

"Matin?!" Turning, Chris took in the scene in front of him only seconds before dodging another hit from Trenton. From what he could gather, Martin had thrown Cecilia's gun and was now doing his best to haul one of the cages into the bushes.

With a growl of frustration, Trenton had managed to knock Chris upside the head with the end of his gun. The young man stumbled back from the blow before diving for Trenton's torso. The tactic was unexpected and sent both opponents into a tree, but with Trenton taking the brunt of the hit. His head had smacked into the tree, causing Chris to wince.

Given a few extra moments while Trenton was dazed, Chris turned and ran to his brother. "Tortuga's on it's way- " Chris was saying at almost the exact moment that Martin greeted him with "Bro, we gotta get these guys backs to their eggs."

For a few fleeting moments, the brothers were side-by-side, working to open the cage and pull out Swoop who was beginning to slightly stir. Then pandemonium came crashing down.

Turning, Martin was heading back to grab the second cage. A gunshot sounded and he yelped causing Chris to whip around, momentarily leaving the eagle. As he ran toward his brother, Chris paused, hearing something overhead. He looked up, expecting to see the tortuga but instead caught sight of a small helicopter swooping down.

"Our ride's here!" Cecilia called to Trenton. She was pushing a now unconscious Martin off of Tailspin's cage.

"The other eagle's out -" Trenton called, aggravation clear in his voice.

"Leave them alone!" Chris approached Cecilia as the helicopter was touching down. As she went to pick up the cage he lunged for the gun slung on her back. With a snarl, she turned to grapple with Chris.

"Trenton! Forget it! Get the other one and get on _board!_ " She embellished the word with a knee to Chris's stomach. He doubled over and Cecilia jerked the gun from his hands, bringing it down over his head. The young Kratt wheezed, feeling pained tears spring to his eyes. His vision blurred and he fell backward.

"I'll get the cage - you take his brother." Cecilia was practically yelling to Trenton over the noise of the helicopter. "We'll get our eagle." she snapped darkly.

The world around Chris went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, sorry this update came so late. School started and right before that I was busy. Anyway! The goal is that updates shouldn't take longer than a week - they might come out before then depending on homework amount or whatever, but hopefully not past. :) Anyway, thanks for reading! Enjoy ^^**

"Chris? Chris c'mon, man. Ohh, Aviva!" Jimmy Z was trying to hold Chris up in a sitting position, doing his best to coax his teammate back to consciousness. With no visible result, Jimmy gave a small worried whimper and called for Aviva.

"I'll be right over!" Aviva murmured rapid Spanish to herself as she grabbed a first aid kit from the Tortuga, bringing it back over to the boys.

"Aviva! I think I see Swoop!" Koki was calling out from across the small clearing where she was crouching, partially obscured by the underbrush of the forest.

"If you can get her aboard the Tortuga, that'd be great!" Aviva called back. She made her way over to Chris and Jimmy with a frown.

"There's no sign of Martin - " she was speaking to Jimmy as felt for Chris's pulse. "I just wish we knew what exactly happened here." Aviva allowed herself a small sigh of relief when she found his heartbeat. Working quickly, the inventor removed a disinfectant wipe from the pack and dabbed at a slowly bleeding cut on Chris's cheek. The young man stirred slightly.

"Chris?" Jimmy tried again, softly. He rearranged his grip, trying to support the younger Kratt's head. But as Jimmy moved his hand he froze, paling a bit.

"A-a-viva," Removing his hand, Jimmy let out another whimper, staring at the blood smeared across his palm.

"What's - Ay! Okay, we need to get him on the Tortuga, pronto!" Aviva closed the first aid kit, sticking it into the pocket of her hoodie. Jimmy bit his lip, clearly nervous.

"Get his legs, Jimmy." As she slipped her arms up underneath of Chris's, Aviva instructed Jimmy. They were nearing the Tortuga's ramp when Koki reappeared, having just got Swoop situated.

"Hang on, guys!" Turning on her heel, Koki ran back into the Tortuga, reappearing moments later with the emergency mobile cot. Navigating it down the ramp, they hoisted Chris onto it and got him back on board.

As the group reentered, Swoop gave a nervous squawk. "Sh, sh, it's alright Swoop." Koki edged over to try and comfort the eagle. Chris began shifting around once more, giving incoherent mumbles.

Just as Aviva was preparing to clean up the blood matting his hair, Chris opened his eyes. He looked around blearily before suddenly leaning forward onto his elbows. "Wh- where's Martin?!"

Giving a small, startled jump at Chris suddenly sitting up, Jimmy ducked behind Aviva, who glanced at him momentarily before turning her attention back on Chris.

"We were hoping you knew... None of us have heard from him since, oh, at least an hour ago when he called." A churning, worried feeling began working in Aviva's stomach and she pursed her lips, thinking.

"Well, we gotta find him," Chris sat up more and winced, wrapping an arm over his torso and reaching his other hand up to gingerly probe the top of his head.

"You need to get taken care of, first. Koki?" Aviva turned to her teammate. "Do you mind helping Chris here? I can go look around for Martin some more," Apart from being an expert with communications and tech, Koki was knowledgable with a bit beyond basic first aid - her skill was always coming in handy.

"No, let me help!" Chris protested, swinging his legs over the side of the cot. He teetered for a moment, blanching, before falling backwards into Jimmy Z.

"Chris!" Came a chorus of concerned voices.

Grimacing with the effort, Jimmy hauled Chris upright, trying to help him back onto the cot. "I'd say that's a no," Jimmy commented, earning him a quick glare from Chris.

"Chris, Jimmy's right. You've got to rest and let us help you. We can't find Martin as fast if we're having to also keep an eye on you-" Koki began but was interrupted as the Kratt suddenly gave a short gasp.

"Wait, I just remembered - I think I know where Martin's at."

 _Martin's POV_

As Martin blearily opened his eyes, his first assessment was of how stiff his shoulders felt. He gave a soft, pained grunt as he tried rolling them, hoping to work out some of the soreness. Upon moving his arms, he found that his hands were bound behind his back.

Frowning, Martin turned to look over his shoulder, pulling at the bonds to see how tight they were - unfortunately they seemed about as stiff as his shoulders. While he was pulling on the ropes, Martin heard approaching footsteps. At the same time he turned to see who was approaching, the visitor delivered a sharp kick to Martin's ribs.

Trenton Coreloc folded his arms over his chest and let a scowl settle into place as Martin double over, trying to smother a wheeze of pain.

"Stop fussing with the rope if you know what's good for ya." Came the poacher's gruff command. Martin gave a small whimper in reply as he struggled to sit up. He blinked, looking around.

"Wh-where are we?" He croaked.

"You're on our private jet - and you're going to help us get our second eagle back." Martin flicked his gaze from Trenton to Cecilia who'd appeared in the doorway and was now walking up to her spouse.

Hearing this, Martin frowned. He furrowed his brows and attempted to sit up a little straighter. "Where's Tailspin? You've got to let him go." He tried in earnest.

Cecilia smirked in Trenton's direction before kneeling down in front of Martin, fixing their captive with a glare. As their eyes met, Martin dropped his scornful gaze, deciding to try and plead with them once more for Tailspin's sake.

"You've got-" _Whack._

Martin reeled back in shock at Cecilia's slap. She stood back up, looking at him critically. "You will not be the one giving orders in this situation." Martin ducked his shoulders, his cheek stinging from the hit. Cecilia seemed to take his lack of response as compliance and turned to Trenton.

"We need to talk with Todd, and get a message to this one's team. The sooner we get our second eagle, the better." Trenton nodded curtly and with that the two exited the room, leaving Martin even more worried than before.


	5. Chapter 5

**I bet you guys thought chapter five was never coming. : P Really sorry about the uber delay. School started and my schedule practically exploded, but things are calming down now. Hopefully chapters will not be this late next time! Thanks everyone who reads and - enjoy!**

 _Chris's POV_

"So you think the Corelocs took him?! ¡Ay dios mio!" Chris winced at Aviva's exasperation, a knot of worry forming in his stomach.

Already over at her controls, Koki shook her head, calling; "Looks like his creature pod either died or got turned off -I'm not picking up a signal." Nearby Jimmy Z whimpered - giving sound to the worry Chris felt.

Pacing, the younger Kratt shook his head. "We've gotta keep looking, maybe he got away - or is hiding somewhere or something, or," he faltered mid-sentence, suddenly remembering something as he looked at Swoop. "The eggs! We need to go get Swoop's eggs!"

Jimmy, though pale with concern, was still on his job and nodded - quickly running over to the controls, preparing to fly the Tortuga to the nest.

"Keep a look out for helicopters - that's what landed near the site where we were at." Chris instructed. His teammates nodded dutifully.

On the way to the nest, Aviva had been working on preparing a safe nesting area for Swoop and her eggs - the team decided that aboard the Tortuga would be the safest place for the Golden Eagle and her soon-to-be eaglets.

Once the craft had touched down, the team filed out - each member carefully grabbing one egg from the clutch and bringing them back aboard. Carefully, the eggs were set down in the nest before Koki retrieved Swoop. The eagle picked her way around the eggs for a moment before settling down over top of them once again.

Aviva began checking the eggs and the temperature around the nest, as Koki went back over to her computer.

"Alright, now that we have the eggs taken care of, we can go back to figuring out where Martin is at." She went back over to her computer screen and started tacking away, looking for a signal, for anything.

Meanwhile, Jimmy flew the Tortuga into the air, preparing to scan the skies once more for nearby aircrafts. Chris strode over to a window and looked out, sighing. A heavy weight in his chest as worry for his brother grew.

 _Martin's POV_

With a soft sigh, Martin frowned, tugging at the binds around his wrists once more. Though, try as he might, they were tied tight. Uncomfortably tight, in fact. With his ankles also bound, making any sort of getaway at the moment seemed useless. So instead Martin sat there and turned everything over in his mind;

He had been unconscious for an unknown amount of time and was on board a plane who knew where. He didn't have his creature pod, and wasn't sure where it was at, either. Tailspin was in danger and so was Martin, for that matter. All because of the poachers Cecilia and Trenton Coreloc who are working for some guy named Todd. Who was Todd?!

After a few minutes of this, Martin decided it was only giving him a headache and making him feel worse about the situation in general. Maybe he could find something in the room to assist with removing the ropes... "Let's see," Martin murmured to himself as his eyes roved the room. Deciding he needed a better vantage point, he began to scoot away from the crate he was leaning against. He needed something sharp. _Maybe if nothing else I can try using the corner of that crate,_ Martin thought, pursing his lips in concentration.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming towards his room. Quickly, Martin scrambled back over to the crate.

"You better not be trying to snoop around in there." Came the gruff voice of Trenton Coreloc. Cecilia's annoyed "Trenton, cool it." Came quickly afterward as the pair rounded the corner.

"Okay, we're gonna be contacting your team, let 'em know we'll trade your for the eagle. Then we can make our money, we won't have to deal with you anymore, and everyone can go about their merry way." Cecilia was saying to Martin as she brought out a phone.

"They're not just gonna hand over Swoop to you!" Martin defied, a determined frown in place. "She's an _endangered_ species."

"You're gonna be endangered if you don't shut up." Trenton snapped. Behind him, Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Now then." The large man stalked over to Martin, kneeling and grabbing the older Kratt gruffly. Trenton grabbed the back of Martin's neck and looked up at Cecilia who tilted her head, a scrutinizing look on her face.

"More threatening. We need to let them know we mean business." Trenton scowled for a moment before leaning to the side and retrieving a knife from his belt. He flicked open the blade and Martin muffled a yelp, attempting to shrink away from the knife.

"Here," Trenton shifted his grip, grabbing a handful of Martin's hair, pulling his head back and pressing the knife onto his neck, but avoiding breaking skin.

"Perfect." Cecilia purred. "Say cheese." She snapped a photo and then gave a curt nod. "Alright. We'll extract the address from his communication device and send them this along with a message that we'll trade him for our second eagle."

Martin watched, worry rising. He wanted to try and negotiate with them again, but was a bit more concerned now that he knew Trenton had a knife. Maybe he'd wait and try to think of something else...


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I am sooo sorry about the inactivity! I was involved in a musical at school and just got busy with the practices and school and everything. Gaahhh D: I appreciate all of you who are following along with my story! Thank you guys so much, it means a lot :) I'll try to update more frequently now, and I hope you enjoy this installment!**

 **Chapter 6**

 _Chris's POV_

It had been several hours since Martin's disappearance. Everyone was growing tenser and tenser with each passing moment that Martin remained unfound. Every so often Koki would touch down and they would do a scan of an area searching for a clue, anything. But so far nothing helpful was unturned and the failed searches only succeeded in causing Chris's worry to rise. Where could they be? Surely the Corelocs would have made some sort of contact with the Wild Kratts team by now, shown up on their radar, something?!

With a sigh, Chris slouched into a chair. He watched Koki's screen with desperate unblinkingness and it was only when Jimmy Z approached that Chris was startled out of his obsessive vigil.

"Um, want a snack?" Jimmy was offering the younger Kratt a small bag of chips. Chris didn't particularly feel like eating, but Jimmy was a stress eater and he seemed only to be trying to help calm Chris's nerves.

"Thanks, J.Z." He tried for a smile as he took a chip. Suddenly the screen lit up with an incoming message.

"We've got something here from an unidentified address! Jimmy, find the source coordinates!" Koki was typing rapidly, trying to figure out from where the message was coming, but she paused her efforts as the e-mail opened up. Chris looked up at the screen, coughing as he choked on the chip Jimmy had given him.

"Martin!" He finally wheezed out, running over to the screen as he heard Aviva's gasp from somewhere behind him where she had been tending to the eggs.

Even Jimmy and Koki, who had been hard at work on their computers, now stared at the image in front of them all.

"Koki, what's it say?" Aviva quietly prompted as she moved closer, her eyes swimming with worry. Reaching forward, Kok scrolled down so they could all read the paragraph attached. It detailed the Coreloc's demand of their cooperation in this instance, where to meet them, how to contact them, and to be sure to bring the eagle. Their last remark made Chris's stomach turn; 'The prompter your response, the less damage will be dealt to your teammate.'

"What're we gonna do?!" Jimmy Z was almost immediately in a frantic state.

"We've got to think of something - we can't just give them Swoop!" Koki frowned, thinking aloud.

"And we can't let them keep Martin either." Aviva noted, finishing Koki's thought. Aviva turned, looking at Chris who had been oddly quiet, a scowl growing on his face.

"Chris-?"

"I've gotta go get him back."

"You can't just-" Koki began, but Chris shook his head.

"Jimmy's got the coordinates now. They're not as far off as we thought. If I can sneak in, then we can make it out with Martin and Swoop." He reasoned, seeming almost to be pleading with them now.

"Chris, that's so dangerous! These people are unpredictable and they mean business." Aviva made a fair point, but Chris was nothing if not stubborn when it came to matters with his brother.

"Listen, you guys have got to let me try. You can arrange a fake meeting with them. Give me enough time to get in without them knowing. When we meet up, Martin and I can get back to the Tortuga easily - and, and. Well, we can think of something else in the meantime. Bring the police or something, I dunno!" With his explanation, Chris's exasperation seemed to be growing. His teammates weren't keen on letting him go - not that he could blame them - but it was the best plan he could come up with. Martin needed him and fast.

"I- I don't know..." Aviva sighed, worried but unsure how to convince Chris not to go.

"He's not going to take no for an answer," Koki finally said, looking knowingly from Chris to Aviva. She took his creature pod and set it in a docking station, downloading the coordinates into the small communicator.

Taking Koki's actions as agreement, albeit grudgingly, Chris quickly made his way over to his backpack, gathering items with a fervent speed. He slid on his creature power suit before slinging the bag over his back. "I'll take the buzz bike, aaand... _this_ to help me get the rest of the way up." He emphasized the word as he carefully picked up a feather from the makeshift nest and tucked it away into his backpack.

As Koki handed Chris his creature pod, Aviva looked up from pinching the bridge of her nose. " _Please_ be careful Chris. If it gets too risky, just come back to the Tortuga and we'll figure something else out, ok?"

"And don't hesitate to use the distress call." Koki added, gesturing to a feature on the communicator.

"Martin and I will be back before you know it." Chris said, carefully implying the fact that he didn't plan to fail on retrieving his brother.

"Make sure of it. And in one piece - okay, bro?" Jimmy Z added, the worry plain on his face. Chris blinked, a bit surprised at first before trying to his best to give them all an encouraging smile .

"I'll do my best." He promised.

In a few minutes, Chris was on a buzz bike, zipping away from the Tortuga and his teammates. He liked to feign courage and confidence, but on his own with his thoughts, Chris had plenty of time to mull over just how dangerous this mission was. But Martin was depending on him, and there was no way he could sit around and let those villainous poachers think they were the ones holding all the cards.

 _Corelocs' POV_

Standing in front of a monitor in one of the plane's main rooms, Trenton and Cecilia listened to their boss on the other end. "So you _will_ have my eagles?" Came his deep voice. The two nodded.

"We already have the one," Cecilia spoke up. "and like we said - we're quite sure we've got the situation with the second one ironed out."

"You know it's likely that they won't be willing to comply?"

"They're not likely to leave Martin stranded, either." Trenton countered, crossing his arms. "If they wait around much longer, we'll have to remind them that they don't have much time." He smirked and check the watch on his wrist.

"Just don't let this opportunity slip away. Pay close attention and you just might have one less member of their pesky team to deal with." Spat the voice on the other end. There was a pause, and then; "Keep me posted." Before the screen went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys~ I'm so sorry about the long wait! I get so sidetracked with other stuff. But I appreciate everyone who reads this so so much! You guys are super awesome! Thank you!**

 _Tortuga_

"Okay, Jimmy... can you patch us through?" Koki asked, turning to her friend in the chair beside her. She had just finished establishing the connection for their correspondence to the Corelocs.

"Sure thing, Koki." Jimmy answered, the normal enthusiasm leaving his voice. As the two worked at the computer, Aviva paced behind them, the worry she was feeling plain on her face.

"What are we going to say to keep them talking long enough? We've got to give Chris enough time to find Martin and get out..." Aviva shook her head as she continued pacing.

"We'll...get it figured out." Koki replied, faltering in her answer and movement at the keyboard.

"Here we go," Jimmy warned. The screen flickered, going fuzzy for a moment before clearing up. A rotating signal appeared on the screen and turned circles for a few seconds before their call was answered. Koki straightened up in her chair as Jimmy shrank back from the screen. Aviva stopped her pacing and turned to look at the Corelocs, a fluttering feeling in her stomach.

"So you've decided to meet our request." Trenton grinned, folding his arms across his chest.

"You didn't leave us much of a choice." Koki answered with a slight glint in her eye. Cecilia smirked, unperturbed by the comment.

"When will you be giving us our eagle?" Cecilia prompted with a smile; she expected their compliance.

"When will you be giving us Martin?" Aviva countered. Trenton grinned, as if what she had just said was amusing.

"What? Don't you trust us?" He asked, chuckling. Koki seemed prepared to shoot back a retort, but Aviva cut her off, taking a step toward the monitor.

"Just - tell us exactly where you're wanting to meet."

"We'll send you the coordinates in a few minutes - it's a clearing some miles out from here." Cecilia began giving orders, reiterating the demands from their original message. "Bring our eagle in a cage and make sure you show up on foot. I want you to land your craft one mile away from where we'll be. Make sure all the members of your team are present and that none of you have any of your tech or weapons of any sort."

"Any funny business and you won't be seeing your teammate again." Trenton added. Jimmy gave a quiet whimper and Aviva felt herself unnerved by the snippy and concise way the Corelocs had laid out their terms. Trenton hadn't even batted an eye.

Turning towards Aviva, Koki exchanged a glance with her teammates. The three were obviously troubled, but what could they really negotiate at this point? They would have to come up with a plan at a later time.

"Alright." Nodded Koki. "We'll do what you want. What time are we meeting?" She continued.

"Be there in an hour. We'll be waiting." Trenton snapped. Before any member of the team could make an attempt to keep the Corelocs talking, he ended the feed.

"Chris!" Aviva put a hand over her mouth. "I don't think that gave him enough time." She shook her head, frowning and taking up her pacing once more.

"We don't know that for sure." Jimmy tried to comfort her. "Chris is an expert, right?" He tried for a smile, but it was more of a nervous grimace.

Koki shrugged with a frown. "We just have to hope that was enough...and come up with a plan B in case it wasn't..."

 _Martin's POV_

Martin sighed quietly as he continued tugging at the rope around his wrists. He was trying to wriggle his hands free, but so far he only seemed to be successful in rubbing his wrists raw. Looking out the window, the older Kratt frowned. He didn't even know what he would do if he managed to get free. At the moment he had no idea where his creature power suit had gone, or his creature pod to contact the team. This seemed a lot like he would get free only to get caught escaping and be in even worse trouble...if that were possible.

Just as he was contemplating a gameplan, the plane began coming to a bumpy touchdown. Martin tumbled backwards against a crate with an 'oof.' As the plane rolled to a complete halt, Martin tried to shimmy into a sitting position. He froze, stomach turning at the heavy footfalls coming down the corridor. Trenton turned the corner and inclined his head toward Martin.

"Come on, we're goin'."

Martin blinked. "Where're we going?"

"Don't ask questions." Trenton growled. He bent down and flicked out a knife, cutting the ropes at Martin's ankles. Standing back up, Trenton wrenched Martin's arm back as he jerked the Kratt to his feet. Martin stumbled a moment, realizing only when he tried to stand that his legs had somewhat fallen asleep.

Trenton looked down at Martin's wrists, noting the bright red around them. "What'd I tell you about messing with the ropes?" The poacher snapped, biffing the back of Martin's head. The hit was enough to make Martin momentarily dizzy, but Trenton's grip on his arm kept him upright.

"Out here." Trenton guided him from behind, out in the corridor and down an open ramp. Martin could see sunlight and forest narrowly through the opening.

"Trenton! Come here, we're getting a call." Cecilia called from a side room. With a quiet growl of frustration, Trenton dragged Martin back from the opening and pushed him down along the wall of the corridor. Striding around a corner, Martin watched him pull some kind of lever, and then heard the metallic groan of the ramp closing once again. The poacher turned and walked up the hall towards Cecilia.

Straining his ears, Martin was trying to listen to the conversation taking place. He thought he heard his name mentioned...? He had been concentrating so hard on listening that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Chris appeared from the shadows, crawling over to him.

Urgently holding a finger to his lips and motioning for silence, Chris scurried over to Martin.

"How long have you been on here?!" Martin whispered.

"I just slipped on when they landed - I didn't get very far - just to this storage unit when I heard someone coming and hid." He answered quietly. Martin shook his head, unable to keep the relieved smile off of his face. Now that Chris was here we was sure they could get out of this - they could always figure things out together.

After a few moments of fussing with the rope, Chris had Martin untied.

"Boy am I glad to see you. Now we just need to find Tailspin and get out of here." Martin murmured, gently rubbing his wrists.

"Where is Tailspin, anyway?" Chris asked, brows furrowed.

"Why don't you just ask?" Came an angry voice. Chris looked up the hall past Martin and paled as Cecilia glared at them, eyes narrowed.


	8. Chapter 8

**So. It's pretty obvious by now that I am not a super motivated writer and I am sincerely sorry about that. It's something I want to/need to start working on. But I cannot thank you guys enough for all the support and encouraging comments you've given my story! You all encouraged me to stick with it...no matter how long I took... I hope you enjoy! ^_^**

 _Chris's P.O.V._

"Hey, get off!" Chris snapped, trying to tug his arm away from Trenton. Out of the corner of his eye, Chris saw Martin wince at the same time he felt Trenton's hand connect with the back of his head.

"Why don't you shut up before you get on my bad side?" He snarled. Trenton Coreloc held Martin's shoulder in one death-tight grip and Chris's arm in the other while Cecilia tied their hands once more.

"You know, your brother is even more of an idiot than you are - running in here on some kind of one man rescue mission." Cecilia scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Martin protested, craning his neck to frown at Cecilia over his shoulder. "Leave Chris alone - whoa!" The older Kratt's objections were interrupted as Trenton pushed the brothers down, sitting them against the wall once more.

Cecilia knelt, leaning towards Chris as she plucked a knife from her belt, flicking it to produce the same dangerous blade that Trenton had used earlier to threaten Martin.

"Now the answer to this question better be truthful; are your friends following our orders or did they decide to pull some reckless stunt like you?" The lady snarled. Her voice was quick and harsh - this was less of an intimidation act and more her simply getting ticked off. Hunts like these normally never took this long. She and Trenton should be getting paid by now!  
Chris met Cecilia's glare with a stubborn frown of his own. "I know my team, and I know that they're going to rescue Tailspin _and_ keep Swoop _and_ get us out of here." He gestured with his shoulder toward Martin who wore a concerned grimace at Chris's snide defiance. Cecilia's eyes flashed and she lashed her hand out as Martin gasped.

The younger Kratt started, taken aback by her sudden advance and the hot, searing pain he suddenly felt. Warm blood began to ooze from a cut along his cheek. "Maybe they'll rescue you. Or maybe Trenton and I will decide it isn't worth the trouble and decide to kill you two ourselves." The last words were spoken through gritted teeth as Cecilia pushed herself to her feet. "Trenton, take them to the helicopter. We need to go get our eagle."

 _Tortuga_

As they walked, Aviva's stomach churned. The plan they had come up with was risky and she felt like there were too many opportunities for it to fail. But they had to try! Due to the Corelocs' requests, the team was limited in what they could do without looking suspicious.

There had been no response from Chris, so they decided they had to assume the worst and prepare their plan B. In the event that Chris had in fact made away with Martin and Tailspin, well the Trotuga wasn't too far off and they would just have to hope they could run for it. Ideally, however, everything would go as planned. Everyone tensed and looked upward at the sound of a chopper.

Under the strong winds from the craft's blades, trees swayed and bent deeply before the helicopter finally touched ground and slowly quieted. A young woman hopped out, landing lightly on her feet and began stalking forward. She was momentarily joined by her larger, broad-shouldered partner who had a Kratt in each arm and was practically dragging them out of the helicopter.

Both brothers' hands were tied and looked worse for wear. Martin had a welt along the side of a his face and a bruise slowly forming under his eye. Chris's jaw was bruised from that night's first encounter and now he had a sizeable cut along his face, too. Koki gave a quiet growl of frustration, her fists working at her sides. These poachers were unbearable! They just had to outwit them and get the boys and their eagle back! And hopefully get those two locked away while they were at it.  
"Alright, we've got your teammates. And we even brought your gear." Cecilia said, as though they were being so generous during this exchange. Trenton tossed a bag that fell at the trio's feet and spilled out to reveal the creature power suits. Aviva eyed the gloves with a momentary flicker of hope - this was even better than she could have hoped for.  
"And I see you have our eagle." Cecilia's eyes landed on the cage and she grinned.  
"Now, Trenton and I have already discovered that you don't like playing fair. We're being so gracious by bringing you two of these pests instead of one - you're getting a bargain, really." She gestured to her partner who reached around to produce a gun, and this time loaded with bullets, not simply tranquilizers. "No funny business, kids. Or I'm afraid we'll go back to our original arrangement and you'll only be going home with one brother instead of two."

Jimmy's stomach turned at the threat. Oh, he didn't want to go through with this. He really didn't even want to try. But, he tried to steel himself, that's not what Chris and Martin would want to hear! They were relying on the team to save the eagles - and rescue the brothers while they were at it. Jimmy had to at least try!

"A-alright, we'll bring you the eagle. Ju-just don't hurt them!" He nodded, indicating Chris and Martin before he stepped up to the cage alongside Koki. She was staring urgently at the brothers, as though trying to convey something but was interrupted as Jimmy cleared his throat and gestured at the cage. Together, they bent down, each grabbing a side of it and began carefully carrying it over to the poachers. Once they were within a few feet, Koki stopped, prompting Jimmy to set down the cage.

"We need to show you two something first." She explained, kneeling down to gesture to the large bird who cocked its head at Koki's gesturing. Cecilia gave an annoyed sigh.  
"What is it?"  
"Swoop got hurt in all the excitement yesterday. If you look here, one of her wings is damaged. But we can show you how to fix it," As she spoke, Koki had carefully rested her hand nonchalantly over the latch at the top of the cage. "Because we know you probably want the animals in their best condition. Let me show you where-" in the midst of her stalling speech, Koki whipped open the cage and Swoop burst out, giving a screech of excitement as she pumped herself into the air.  
The second the eagle had escaped, Jimmy flung the now empty cage at Trenton, hitting him squarely in the face and causing him to drop the gun. It had all happened so fast, Cecilia barely had time to do anything except screech a swear.

Aviva sprinted forward, grabbing the creature power suit gloves and sliding them on. The sunlight glinted off the torso piece she was revealed to be wearing under her hoodie. Grabbing a feather from her pocket, she hit the central button and began transforming. Cecilia was momentarily caught off guard, staring at the way the suit functioned before suddenly diving out of the way as Aviva dove at the poachers, talons extended.  
Growling, Cecilia groped for the gun on her belt. She tugged it free and haphazardly clicked off the safety, sending some clumsy shots in Aviva's direction. Suddenly, Cecilia reeled around, prepared to aim the gun at the Kratts, but to her astonishment, they were gone.

In the chaos of the first few moments, the brothers had quickly rolled underneath the helicopter. Now Aviva dove down, using her talons to slice through Martin's ties. He thankfully rubbed his wrists, but before she could swoop down once more to help Chris, Trenton appeared, firing off his gun. Chris yelped, reeling backwards as Aviva banked upwards to avoid the shot.

"Oh no you don't!" Martin yowled, diving at Trenton. They grappled for a few moments before Martin sent the weapon flying with a well-placed swat. Unfortunately, now that his hands were free of the gun, Trenton sent Martin flying as well.

"Aviva! A little help here!" Chris yelled impatiently, pulling at the ropes as he stumbled over to where Martin was dazedly sitting upright.

"I'm trying!" She yelled back, diving once more and using her talons to pull at Trenton's hair. Aviva sprang away, quickly going to the brothers and slicing through the ropes around Chris's wrists before she took off again.  
With an angry snarl, Trenton turned towards the brothers. "I'm gonna put you both out of your misery for good." The man cracked his knuckles and ran at the two, apparently seeing the gun as a lost cause and relying now on his fists. He ran at them, ready to grab the nearest brother and throttle them, but as Trenton gained momentum, Chris gained an idea and at the last second he dove out of the way, pulling Martin with him. Trenton collided with the side of the helicopter and slumped to the ground, down for the count - at least for the moment.

On the other side of the helicopter, Swoop had joined in the chaotic attack by diving at Cecilia. The bird quickly backed off, though, as a bullet narrowly missed her wing. But the poacher's distraction had given Koki enough time to get close enough and she kicked Cecilia's hand, sending the gun spinning away and eliciting a loud curse from the woman.

With-in seconds, Cecilia had sprung at her assailant and Koki suddenly found herself in a clumsy hand-to-hand combat. "You're creating more trouble than those birds are worth!" Cecilia growled, grabbing Koki's wrists. The young girl dug her heels in, trying to wrench herself from the woman's grip.

"Us?! We're not creating trouble - you're the ones poaching endangered animals!" Koki snapped in response. She got one wrist free, but was greeted with a sharp blow from Cecilia who now also had a free hand.

"Why can't you just," she pulled the knife from her belt. "Stay out of our w -!?" Cecilia Coreloc didn't get a chance to finish her sentence though, as Jimmy had fished her gun from the grass and used the handle to hit her over the head.  
"JZ, you did it!" Koki grinned, scrambling quickly back to her feet. Jimmy didn't respond to the thanks, however, and instead stared in mute horror at Cecilia's unconscious body. "I did it." He finally echoed in a squeaky voice."  
Not but seconds later, Aviva alighted down next to the group, changing back to normal. She let out an exasperated sigh and ran hand through her hair. "Our endangered species is no longer in danger." she announced.

Koki raised a brow. "The golden eagles?"

"No," Aviva smiled ruefully. "The Kratts."


End file.
